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O.v H. ROBERTS, TRAGTION' ENGINE.

No. 857,036. Patented Feb. 1, 1887.

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O. H. ROBERTS.

TRACTION ENGINE.

No. 357,036. Patented'Feb. 1, 1887.

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UNITED STATES- PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES H. ROBERTS, OF WASHINGTON, INDIANA.

TRACTION-ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 357,036, dated February 1, 1887.

Application filed October 21, 1886. Serial No. 216,898. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Beit known that I, OHAnLns H. ROBERTS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Washington, in the county of Davies and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Traction-Engines; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and ex act description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters andfigures of reference marked thereon, which form apart of this specification.

My invention has relation to new and useful improvements in tractionengines, and the object is to provide a simple, compact, and powerful machine of this class; and to these ends the novelty consists in the construction, combination, and arrangement of the parts'of the same, as will be hereinafter more fully described, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings the same letters of reference indicate similar parts of the invention.

Figure 1 represents a side elevation of my A is the frame-work of the machine; B, the

' boiler; O, the front traction steering-wheel, and

D the rear pair of traction drivingwheels. The boiler is mounted to the frame about midway of its balance-point by a pair of hinges,

- secured to the frame-work by the hinge-joints and the cylinder under the boiler, and it will readily be understood that the boiler can be instantly leveled to correspond to the position of the machine on the ground. 'By opening the cock 9 the steam-pressure will force the water into the cylinder and raise the piston,

consequently raising the boiler to a level position, and by closing the cook the water is re-' 'tained in the cylinder and furnishes a firm rest If the end of the or support for the boiler. boiler is to be lowered, the pet-cock his opened and-enough water allowed to escape to bring the end down to a level. Of course, it will readily be understood that the operation of leveling the boiler is accomplished without any manual labor on the part of the operator.

F G are the cylinders, which are connected at a right angle to the main driving-shaft H, which is provided with a small gear, I, meshing with a larger gear-wheel, J, on the shaft J This shaft is provided with two sprocketwheels, t z, from which chains pass to the large sprocket wheels K on the rear tractionwheels, D.

L is a clutch-coupling on the shaft H, which connects said shaft with the pinion or gear I when the engines F G are usedto propel the machine but when the machine is stationary and the engines used to drive any separate machinery-such as thrashing-machines, sawmills, or the like-the clutch L is disconnected by a lever, (not shown,) and the gear M moved forward in the same plane with the gear M on the shaft J, so as to revolve it at a greater speed, and the chains removed, so that the whole power of the engine is thrown on the shaft J, from which the power may be transmitted from the pulley M to any desired point.

Referring to the front traction steeringwheel 0, O is an upright frame, secured to the fifth-wheel O, and upon it is mounted a pair of engines, 1; 1), connected at right angles to a shaft, P, provided with a pinion, q, meshing with a gear-wheel, It, on the shaft B. This shaft has a small sprocket-wheel, 1?, around which a chain passes endlessly over the drumwheel 0, by means of which the wheel is rotated.

s The fifth-wheel O is provided with a series of knees, T, secured thereto, and having their upper ends projecting inside and above the bottom of the frame A, to keep said wheel 0 in, place. Each bracket or knee T is provided with an anti-friction roller, t, upon which the frame A rests.

U is a chain the ends of which are secured "to steer the machine. backward the upper friction-wheel binds on at suitable points to the fifth-wheel O, as shown, and said chain passes around a sprocketwheel, V, on the vertical shaft V. W is a worm-gear on said shaft, and into it meshes a worm-screw, w, on the shaft to, journaled in a bracket, 3, secured to the frame A. This shaft to is provided with a pinion, 4, which meshes on its upper side with asimilar pinion, 5, on the shaft 6, journaled in thelever-handle 7. This shaft 6 has secured to it a frictionwheel, 8, and a similar friction-wheel, 9, and gear or pinion, 10, are secured to the shaft 11 on the lower end of the lever 7. The two friction-wheels S and 9 are in the same plane as the balance 12, and by throwing the leverhandle 7 forward the lower wheel, 9, will bind against the periphery of the balancewvheel, causing said friction-wheel 9 to turn its pinion 10, which in turn rotates the pinion t and worm-screw w, and thence, through the medium of the chain, turn the fifth-wheel to the right If the lever 7 is thrown the balance-wheel and the machine steered to the left, as above described. Of course, if the machine is going straight ahead, the lever is thrown so that neither of the friction-wheels come in contact with the balance-wheel, and the course of the machine remains unaltered and the laborof steering is reduced to a minimum, as no physical exertion is required.

For a description of the construction of the front and rear traction drums or wheels reference may be had to two applications filed simultaneously herewith, serially numbered 216,896 and 216,897, in which both features are set forth and claimed.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and useful, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. The combination, with the frame of a portable engine, of a boiler mounted thereon and provided with a steam-cylinder connecting said boiler and frame, whereby the position of 

